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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24147769">This Means War</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosie2009/pseuds/Rosie2009'>Rosie2009</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Descendants Fanfiction [45]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Descendants (Disney Movies), Disney - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 19:00:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>14,092</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24147769</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosie2009/pseuds/Rosie2009</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Uma shaves Dude’s butt in retaliation for Carlos not watching him and letting him chew up her shoe, Mal, Evie, Uma, Audrey, and Jane as well as Jay, Carlos, Harry, Gil, and Ben are launched into a full-on prank war. Includes lots of friendship/family feels, Bal, Jaudrey, Jarlos, Huma, and onesided Gil x Evie.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Audrey Rose &amp; Uma (Disney), Ben &amp; Carlos de Vil, Ben &amp; Carlos de Vil &amp; Harry Hook &amp; Jay &amp; Gil, Ben &amp; Gil (Disney: Descendants), Ben &amp; Hades (Disney: Descendants), Ben &amp; Harry Hook, Ben &amp; Jay (Disney: Descendants), Ben/Mal (Disney: Descendants), Dude &amp; Carlos de Vil, Evie &amp; Audrey Rose (Disney), Evie &amp; Carlos de Vil, Evie &amp; Gil (Disney: Descendants), Evie &amp; Jane &amp; Mal &amp; Audrey Rose &amp; Uma (Disney), Evie &amp; Jane (Disney: Descendants), Evie &amp; Jay &amp; Mal &amp; Carlos de Vil, Evie &amp; Mal (Disney), Evie &amp; Uma (Disney), Gil &amp; Carlos de Vil, Gil &amp; Harry Hook, Gil &amp; Harry Hook &amp; Uma, Gil &amp; Jay (Disney: Descendants), Gil &amp; Uma (Disney: Descendants), Hades &amp; Mal (Disney), Harry Hook &amp; Carlos de Vil, Harry Hook &amp; Jay, Harry Hook/Uma, Jane &amp; Audrey Rose (Disney: Descendants), Jane &amp; Mal (Disney: Descendants), Jane &amp; Uma (Disney: Descendants), Jane/Carlos de Vil, Jay &amp; Carlos De Vil, Jay/Audrey Rose (Disney), Mal &amp; Audrey Rose (Disney), Mal &amp; Carlos de Vil, Mal &amp; Uma (Disney), Uma &amp; Carlos de Vil</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Descendants Fanfiction [45]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1252532</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>This Means War</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="">
  <p>  Uma walked into her apartment in Mal and Ben’s castle, kicking off her shoes at the door. She stretched a bit before heading into the living room, planning to turn on a little bit of TV before she made dinner for her and the boys. After all, she definitely didn’t trust them in the kitchen.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  As Captain of the Guard, Uma had been working hard that day, training all of the new recruits, and it had been mercilessly excruciating work. She had been laboring tirelessly, pushing them hard as she could, and in the midst of her efforts, she had done almost as much as they had.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  She was beginning to wonder which of the two sides was doing the most effort. She was quite inclined to think that she was.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Either way, she was exhausted, and very eager to sit and focus on something else that didn’t involve running, push-ups, sit-ups. Pretty much anything that didn’t involve moving.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Uma shuffled into the living room, and her eyes went wide as she took in the dog that was sitting there on her couch. It was that little orange mutt that Carlos had adopted, and Uma narrowed her eyes as she took in the sight of the creature. It was sitting there in her seat, <em>her</em> seat, as if it owned the place. And worse than that, the little rat was chewing one of her shoes.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Uma’s eyes narrowed, and she glared at the creature in pure rage. He looked up at her and just seemed to notice she was there. He widened his eyes, and quickly jumped up from his place on the couch, dropping the shoe.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “It’s not what it looks like!” he cried, and Uma narrowed her eyes, gritting her teeth.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What are you doing in my house, dog?!” Uma demanded as she glared at the dog. He laid his ears back and chuckled nervously.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Uh… Well, funny story actually… You see, I got loose from Carlos’s place and decided I’d go wandering around. It was then that I smelled the most glorious scent of funions! So I went through an open doorway, and found this!” Dude told her, and Uma’s eyes narrowed as she realized that the animal had just said that her feet smelled like funions.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “But when I went to leave with it, I couldn’t get out because the door was shut,” Dude explained with a nervous laugh, and Uma gritted her teeth, remembering well that she had left the door open for a moment as she hurried back inside the apartment to get her favorite sword. The dog must have gotten in somewhere in that time interval.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Uma set her jaw in irritation as she tried desperately to reign in her feelings of pure and unadulterated rage.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Carlos really needed to keep a better eye on his dog. After all, the boy was probably playing video games, and not giving the dog the attention that it required in order to ensure its good behavior. Nevertheless, Uma was positively infuriated at the de Vil boy.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Dog, you’ve got three seconds to get out of my house,” Uma informed him finally, grinding the words out from between her teeth as she informed the pet of his time. He sighed in relief.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Oh, phew, I thought you were going to shave my butt or something!” Dude piped up, grinning happily. Uma paused suddenly as her gaze snapped to the dog. She immediately remembered Harry’s shaver, and she grinned evilly as it suddenly occurred to her just how she could gain retaliation against the de Vil boy.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Uh… Why are you smiling like that? I don’t think that’s a good sign,” Dude pointed out worriedly, and Uma smiled even wider with her teeth glinting as she reached out for the mutt, chuckling under her breath all the while.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “I’ll teach Carlos a thing or two about messing with a pirate…”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>      “UMA?! UMA?! HEY, UMA?!” Carlos called, storming into the room with Dude in his arms, and Uma, Harry, Gil, Ben, Mal, Evie, Jay, Audrey, and Jane all looked up to stare at him from their various positions around the room.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  It had been only hours since Uma had shaved Dude, and it was now nightfall. Carlos had obviously just found out about the dog. Or at least, it had taken him this long to find Uma.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Everyone blinked, just gaping at the boy until Uma finally decided to speak up.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “That’s my name, and you know I never get tired of hearing it, but do you have to shout it that loudly?” Uma questioned innocently from her place on the couch between Harry and Gil. Carlos frowned as his eyes narrowed at the pirate.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What’s your problem, Whitey Tighty? Your panties get in a wad?” Uma questioned, and snorted as she enjoyed her joke. Harry grinned widely at the comment, and Gil giggled goofily along, noting that it was the appropriate way to support Uma at that moment.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “You shaved Dude’s butt!” Carlos accused, spinning the dog around so everyone could see. Everyone stared for a moment, and Harry suddenly burst into loud laughter. That seemed to break the dam, and soon enough, everyone else was laughing and giggling along at the dog’s expense.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Carlos! You said you weren’t going to show anybody!” Dude cried, embarrassedly, and Carlos eyed him apologetically before turning the dog back around so that his front was facing everyone.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “I’m sorry, Dude, but I had to get my point across,” Carlos apologized before hardening his tone and glaring at Uma with pursed lips and an irritated gaze.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Tha’ is hilarious!” Harry laughed hard, pointing at the boy and the dog, and Carlos just held the mutt a bit closer to him, scratching his neck protectively.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “That’s genius!” Mal commented from her place between Evie and Ben where she was currently squeezing Evie’s hand tightly and leaning her head against Ben’s shoulder, giggling uncontrollably as she looked between the pet and Uma. Uma just made a gesture to bow in gratitude before grinning widely and evilly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What did Snowflake do, Uma?” Evie questioned, her eyes sparkling with some odd mix of humor and pity, and Uma just laughed before glaring a bit at the dog, letting her grin turn to a smirk.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “He wasn’t keeping a good eye on his stupid dog, so I took the liberty of doing something that he might would pay attention to,” Uma explained herself, and Carlos huffed offendedly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “How messed up is that?! You don’t shave the dog’s butt! That’s just weird!” Carlos announced to the room, and Harry and Mal just laughed harder, really enjoying this entire ordeal. Jane actually secretly agreed with Carlos that it was kind of cruel to shave the dog’s behind.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “C’mon, Jay, back me up!” Carlos demanded, and Jay shrugged as he gestured to the other boy.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Ol’ Frosted Flake didn’t mean to let his dog loose. You know how dogs are,” Jay explained, and Audrey looked up at her boyfriend from where she was rested against his chest.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Yeah, but it was probably because he was playing a bunch of ridiculous, time-wasting video games,” Uma pointed out, and Harry froze, furrowing his brow as he suddenly lost all signs of enjoying Uma’s picking on Carlos. Uma knew exactly why Harry was offended. After all, he had become quite fond of video games since the she, him, and Gil had moved to Auradon.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  In fact, as she looked around, all of the other boys that had been laughing were now looking quite unimpressed with Uma’s statement.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Video games aren’t a waste of time,” Jay piped up, throwing in his opinion, and Harry nodded as he gazed at Uma with his eyebrows knitted together.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Ye know, fer once, I actually agree with Jay-Jay,” Harry expressed, and Uma rolled her eyes as she looked at Gil. Even Gil looked a bit offended as he watched her. Uma groaned loudly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Come on, y’all can’t seriously think that video games are worth forgetting everything for.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Yeah, video games aren’t really healthy for your psyche anyway,” Evie piped up, putting in her scientific opinion, and Mal nodded in approval.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Maybe not worth forgetting everything for, but I certainly don’t feel that video games are a waste of time, though,” Ben told Evie, looking at her with some defensiveness, and Mal narrowed her eyes as the boys suddenly seemed quite against Uma and Evie’s points of view.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Mal looked at Evie, and she saw Evie’s brown eyes were glowing with that familiar sense of support that she always offered Mal unconditionally and wholeheartedly. Mal knew that Evie would be behind her completely if Mal felt like arguing against the boys or not. Mal nodded to Evie approvingly, and Evie puffed up a bit, feeling quite justified in her opinions on the subject.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Come on, guys. It’s silly. You’re a bunch of boys with a life, and you actually think video games are worth wasting your time on when you could be going out with the dudes or hanging out with your girls?” Uma explained to them, getting a little more irritated with the guys, and Mal nodded as she agreed with Uma, looking at the group gathered.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Well, not every moment of our time should be put in video games, but they’re certainly worth a lot of our time!” Jay pointed out, and Audrey pulled away from him as she glared at the boy. Mal and Evie raised an eyebrow as they took in the sudden action occurring with their favorite pretty little couple.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “So you’d rather play video games than hang out with me?!” Audrey questioned, and unfortunately, Jay was not a fast learner in that he had not yet figured out when it was time to shut up.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Not necessarily, but I really like playing video games!” Jay informed her, and Audrey withdrew from him altogether, moving to the other side of their seat.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Can we just focus on my dog?!” Carlos cried, trying to pull the conversation back to the first offense despite the fact that he was very much irritated about the entire ordeal with Uma’s beliefs about video games.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Now look there! With that philosophy of valuing video games so much, the dog getting its butt shaved is the least of what you should be getting,” Uma explained to them, crossing her arms, and the boys all looked at one another in some offense.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Ben and Gil weren’t quite as enthusiastic as Jay, Carlos, and Harry, but they were nevertheless somewhat offended and did want to stick with the guys. After all, the other guys did need them at that point.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “I think you shouldn’t have shaved my dog’s butt at all! That’s messed up!” Carlos declared, and the rest of the boys expressed varying forms of agreement. Now they had to band together. The girls were completely against them in this endeavor, so they had to cooperate to present a good argument.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “C’mon, y’all, let’s go over to Evie’s place,” Uma announced. She looked out the window, realizing that the moon was already up. Uma looked to Evie curiously.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Hey, Blue, watchu think of a sleepover?” Uma proclaimed as she stood up from her place on the couch.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Sounds good to me,” Evie agreed easily and happily, loving the idea of having time to potentially drag Uma into girl talk and girlie activities, and Uma nodded resolutely. Normally, Uma wouldn’t volunteer to sleep over at Evie’s, but this was a special circumstance, and Uma was going to make those boys suffer.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “It’ll be better than being with these video-game-obsessed children!” Audrey proclaimed offendedly, her and Mal immediately siding with Evie and Uma. Audrey then got up and headed over to Uma swiftly. Evie stood up and offered Mal a hand, pulling her up gently with that usual care that she always gave Mal, and they both headed out hand in hand as they followed the other three girls. Jane hesitantly sat up, looking at the boys somewhat apologetically before leaving with the other four girls.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  The boys just gaped at the five as they shut the door behind them and left the boys in the room by themselves.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What just happened?” Gil questioned, for once actually asking something that was quite astute. Carlos shook his head and frowned as he headed over to sit next to Jay with Dude.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Well, they’re mad at us because we apparently like video games better than them,” Jay pointed out, and Carlos’s gaze snapped to Jay.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “But Uma shaved my dog’s butt and wasn’t even ashamed of herself!!!” Carlos cried.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  They were quiet for a long moment, the lot of them just gazing into empty space as they thought. Except for Carlos, who was too busy worrying over Dude to think of the girls and the way that the girls had treated the boys about their video games.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Y’know, we should do it back to ‘em,” Harry suddenly spoke up, and Jay nodded to him, immediately on the same page. Ben furrowed his brow as he considered this idea.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What? We’re shaving the girl’s butts?!” Carlos demanded, his eyes widened as he gaped at the Hook boy in horror. Ben’s jaw went slack as he stared at Carlos, completely taken off guard. Harry’s eyes widened at the thought and he raised an eyebrow.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Ooh!!! Can I shave Evie’s?” Gil questioned, laughing like a madman, and Jay rolled his eyes at Gil and Carlos, shuddering a bit at the thought of Evie.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “That’s not what he meant. He was talking about pranking them back,” Jay pointed out, and Harry shook himself from his stupor, nodding along with the other boy in agreeance.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Good grief, now I have a mental image of Evie that is <em>never</em> getting out of my head,” Ben expressed, shaking his head with a traumatized expression.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Well, men? Shall we go and raid Evie’s place tonight?” Jay questioned, raising an eyebrow as he tried to move past the subject of just a moment ago.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  They all raise their arms and fists in agreement. And so they headed off to create mischief and wreak havoc.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>   ………………………………………………………………………………………………………</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>       It was the next morning, and Audrey had just woken up from her awkward position on Evie’s large bed. She was squished into Jane and laying almost on top of Uma, and Uma was resting across Mal and Evie’s legs as the laid on the bed in the correct positions.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  That night, they had all been roughhousing and Uma had grabbed Audrey, falling down across the bed where Mal and Evie were resting, successfully squishing them. Jane had at some point crawled onto the bed and rolled against Audrey, and they had kind of all stayed in that position, talking until Audrey must have eventually fallen asleep. Of course, Audrey fell asleep faster than anyone that they knew. It must’ve been something to do with being the daughter of Sleeping Beauty.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Audrey, barely awake, climbed off of Uma and unwedged herself from Jane’s side as she got up and headed for the bathroom, not even looking at the other girls as she simply gazed at the doorway from between her barely cracked open eyelids.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Audrey stumbled through the doorway and headed down the hall, letting herself in the bathroom.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Audrey had a particular routine that she followed every morning. Her first step was ordinarily to use the bathroom, her second step was to wash her face, and the third was to put on her makeup so that she could be presentable for the day.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Once Audrey had finished her first step, she gazed at herself in the mirror, taking in her tired appearance. She rubbed at her eyes gently, and then started to look for the bar of soap that Evie always kept specifically for face-washing. She found it in its proper place--- of course, she didn’t expect anything less since it was Evie’s house--- and she couldn’t help but notice that something about it was different.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  All that she could recognize about the bar was that it was round rather than the typical rectangular-shaped bar of soap. Either way, Audrey wasn’t much in the mindset to challenge it given her drowsy state, and she wet it a bit before scrubbing her hands together, keeping her eyes on her reflection. She then sat the bar down on the sink and started to scrub her face with her hands.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  However, she quickly figured out that there was something about the soap that was much, much more different than just its shape. Audrey’s eyes widened as she realized that she had this disgusting black lather all over her face with only a few streaks of her actual skin tone.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Audrey swallowed hard, trying not to yell, but as she realized that the stuff was not coming off of her face, she couldn’t hold it back any longer. She suddenly let loose with a blood-curdling scream.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  In the other room, Mal jerked awake. Evie, Uma, and Jane had somehow managed to remain asleep throughout this sudden noise, which was especially odd considering Evie was such a light sleeper.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  As soon as Mal opened her eyes, she was met with the most frightening sight she had witnessed in a long time. There, right nearby her side of the bed, was a large, mean-looking dog that was staring at her and growling lowly. Mal froze, her eyes going wide, and she found that she was not able to move, completely paralyzed by her fear.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  One of Mal’s greatest weaknesses was her intense fear of dogs, namely large dogs. This was a huge German Shepherd sitting there by her bed looking as if it were about to eat her, and it successfully took her fear to an entirely new level.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Evie?” Mal whispered nervously, her mouth barely moving as she laid there white as a sheet. The dog’s eyes were still very much trained upon her, and Mal was scared to make very much noise in case it triggered the creature.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Evie?!” Mal tried again, hoping desperately that Evie would wake up. After a moment of this, Mal realized that her foot was against Evie’s leg, and she did have a more effective way to perhaps stir Evie from her slumber.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Mal, keeping her watch on the dog that was very much watching her back, slowly poked Evie’s leg in hopes that she could catch the girl’s attention. She kept doing it over and over, whispering the bluenette’s name, and Evie finally stirred a bit.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Evie opened her eyes drowsily, looking over at Mal with her eyes barely open.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “M, what---” Evie stopped as soon as she spotted the German Shepherd. Evie’s face was laced with confusion, but she smiled a bit as she looked at the creature. As she awoke a bit more, she grinned, reaching over Mal to see the dog.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Hi, where’d you come from? You’re a pretty boy, aren’t---” Evie started, extending her hand, but the dog suddenly growled at her as she approached him, and Evie withdrew her hand swiftly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Okay,” Evie spoke, her gaze darting between the dog and Mal fearfully. Mal swallowed hard, and Evie didn’t move a muscle as she tried to figure out what to do.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Her eyes moved down to Uma’s form laying across them on the bed, and Evie moved her foot, nudging Uma repeatedly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Uma? Uma?!” Evie told her in a voice barely more than a whisper, trying to poke Uma as near to her face as she could reach which at this point was only Uma’s side. Uma scrunched her nose as she raised her head up, looking at Evie as if she had lost her mind.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What the heck is wrong with you? Stop poking me!” Uma scolded, and Evie shook her head swiftly, glancing over at the dog that had not taken its gaze off of Mal. Mal was frozen in place in the midst of her pure horror, and she looked as if she might start screaming at any moment.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “There’s a dog! A big, mean, really scary dog, Uma, and you need to take care of it!” Evie cried, her voice low, and Uma furrowed her brow in confusion.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What are you even talking about? Have you lost your mind? There’s no dog in here!” Uma proclaimed before suddenly hearing the animal growl. Uma slowly turned her head so that she was looking at the dog upside down.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Oh… You’re right,” Uma told her, and Mal was frozen stiff as she watched the pirate. Uma rolled over onto her stomach, bumping Jane in the process, and the daughter of Fairy Godmother stirred as she started to awaken.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Uma, deciding that it might be beneficial if she treated the dog with sweetness instead of treating it cruelly, started to sweet-talk the dog.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Hey, bud! Come here! Come here, buddy!” Uma beckoned, baby-talking the dog as she tried to make him calm down. He immediately seemed to pay attention to Uma over everyone else. His tail started to wag a bit, and he leaned nearer to her.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Mal and Evie were just staring at the situation, and Jane rolled over, trying to figure out what in the world that Uma was doing and why she sounded so sugary and nice. Jane’s eyes widened a bit as she realized what was going on.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Aww, look at him! What a handsome guy! Who’s a good boy? Is he a good boy?” Uma coaxed, and the dog scooted closer to her, laying his ears back as he whined a bit. Uma grinned widely, petting the dog on the head as he wagged his tail and licked her hand.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Look, y’all, he ain’t nothing but a little sweetheart,” Uma told them as she scratched him on the head affectionately. Something glinted on the dog’s chest, and Uma furrowed her brow, reaching down and noticing it was a tag. She pulled it up, examining it.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Huh… Serge, member of the King’s Secret Investigative Services,” Uma read aloud, and her eyes narrowed as she figured out precisely why she thought the dog was there. Uma looked over at the other two girls. Evie was holding Mal closely against her and trying to get the girl to calm down.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “You know, this has the boys written all over it,” Uma commented, and Evie nodded slowly, stroking Mal’s hair gently.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “But why would they do anything like this?” Jane questioned, and Uma turned back to look at the fairy.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Well, duh. Obviously because we insulted their stupid video games and I shaved the dog’s butt. You know, honestly, boys are so petty,” Uma pointed out, raising up and looking down as she followed the dog’s leash to where it was tied to one of the legs of the bed. Uma groaned, untying the leash with the dog snuffling happily at her face the entire time.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Uma finally untied it, and she took the end of the leash in her hands as she moved her legs across Jane and put them on Mal’s side of the bed, getting up.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Alright, y’all, I’m gonna take Serge outside,” Uma expressed.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Check on Audrey,” Mal told her, and Uma looked at her curiously.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Why?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “I think she was screaming when I woke up,” Mal explained herself, still looking a bit nervous as she watched the dog closely. Uma scoffed a bit, raising an eyebrow.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “And you didn’t consider it necessary to tell me this like as soon as I got up?” Uma inquired before rolling her eyes, heading over to her shoes and sitting on the bedroom bench at the foot of the bed, the dog standing there next to her happily.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Okay. I’m going to go check on Audrey, and then I’m gonna put the dog out,” Uma told them, getting ready to put her shoe on. However, before she did, she turned her head to face the other three girls.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Now y’all remember. If the boys are behind this, there’s no telling what else they could’ve done,” Uma explained, working her foot into her boot carefully and not quite reaching the bottom of it yet.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “So, keep up your guard at all ti---” Uma stopped swiftly in mid-sentence, narrowing her eyes as she experienced the feeling of something disgustingly squishy in her shoe. The other three girls stared at her, trying to decipher what had happened to her.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Uma withdrew her foot slowly from her shoe, setting her jaw as she realized that she had placed her toes in what appeared to be dog poop. She immediately knew precisely what dog was likely behind it all.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Dude.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Uma swallowed hard before standing up slowly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “I’ll be right back. Keep an eye on the dog,” Uma informed them, her voice controlled almost to the extent that it was cold and emotionless, and Mal yelped as Serge looked over in her direction.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Uma, if you could, please take the dog out with you,” Evie told the pirate, holding Mal against her gently with her jaw resting on top of Mal’s head. Uma carefully turned to the bluenette, trying to keep her anger in check.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  She just stared at Evie for a long moment before hobbling out the door, trying to walk on her heel as she took the dog’s leash, bringing him out with her. Uma headed down the hall, stopping at the bathroom door, and she looked to the dog.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Stay,” she told him, and he sat down. She nodded slightly before moving to open the door. She had figured that the dog would obey commands. After all, he was one of the well-trained animals that were part of the investigative services.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Uma opened the door, furrowing her brow as she realized Audrey had her face turned away from Uma.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What’s your problem, princess?” Uma questioned, and Audrey stiffened at the sound of Uma’s voice. Uma raised an eyebrow, moving closer.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Are you okay?” Uma asked, finding herself actually worried about the princess. Audrey laughed a bit before suddenly turning around, her eyes wide as she gaped at the pirate with an almost crazed expression.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Do I look fine to you?!!!” Audrey demanded, and Uma withdrew, staring at the princess in surprise as she took in the sight of Audrey’s blackened face. It was akin to soot, and there were only a few places on her face that were her usual skin color.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Actually, yeah. Now you look like a warrior instead of a wimp.” Audrey seemed to get even angrier at that point, and she went off on a rearing tangent as she was often prone to do when panicked and livid.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “This is devil wash! DEVIL WASH! I can’t go out looking like some kind of panda bear warrior thingy!!!” Audrey screeched as she stared angrily at the bar of soap. Uma tried valiantly not to laugh as she moved over to the bathtub, rolling up the leg of her pajamas and sticking her foot in the tub as she turned on the hot water.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “At least panda bears are cute,” Uma quipped, and Audrey spun around to face the pirate, her eyes glowing with a fire unrivalled. Uma just grinned a bit guiltily, realizing that it was probably not a good idea to mess with the princess when she was this upset. Audrey opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, she seemed to realize what was covering Uma’s foot.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What did--- did you step in dog poop?” Audrey questioned, her lips wobbling a bit as she asked the question. Uma groaned deeply, and Audrey started to laugh, unfortunately not as good at holding back her true feelings as Uma was.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Oh, laugh it up. Ol’ doo-doo foot and panda bear. We’re a match made in… Well, definitely not heaven, that’s for sure,” Uma commented as she rinsed off the poop, grabbing a regular bar of soap to help her wash her foot. Audrey’s laughs subsided as she was quickly brought back to the situation with her face.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Why does Evie have this soap in her cabinet?” Audrey questioned, and Uma shook her head.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Evie doesn’t. The boys put the soap there. Just like they put dog crap in my shoe,” Uma explained to her with a bit of a snarl as she washed her hands after taking care of her foot.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “That… makes a lot of sense now that you point it out,” Audrey growled under her breath, and Uma sighed, turning off the water as she scooted over to the nearby rack that Evie kept her washcloths on. She then dried her foot off.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Yeah. Carlos isn’t going to have to worry about that stupid dog anymore when I’m through. Shaving it will be the least of his worries,” Uma threatened, standing up and heading over to the door. Audrey examined herself in the mirror, trying to figure out some way rub the blackness off of her face.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  To Uma’s relief, the dog was still obediently sitting there, waiting on the pirate. Uma smiled at him softly and took the leash, leading him across the house and heading for the front door.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  However, as soon as she reached the door, she realized that something was wrong outside. Very wrong.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Hey, Evie!!! You might want to get out here and take a look at this!!!” Uma called loudly before opening the door to get a better look at the horror she was witnessing currently.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  There in front of her was Evie’s Jeep Charlene without any of its fancy, shiny tires that it always sported. Instead of sitting on tires, the car was sitting on large concrete blocks. Uma raised her eyebrows as she looked down at the dog.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Man, when they prank, they go big,” Uma commented, and the dog just snuffled at her. Uma huffed a bit, knowing exactly how Evie was going to react when she got outside. The pirate then walked over to a shady spot underneath a tree and tied the dog to the tree.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  She patted him affectionately.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Don’t worry, buddy. I’ll get you some water in a few, and then I’ll call up your people,” Uma told him, and he licked her hand.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  But before she could focus on the dog much longer, she heard a scream. Uma sighed, heading back over to witness Evie’s fit that she was likely about to be throwing.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “MY CAR!!! M, MY CAR!!!” Evie screamed, and Uma quickly spotted Mal attempting to console the other girl. Mal had obviously overcome her own trauma as a result of the dog, but Evie was just getting started. Evie looked as if she might fall onto the ground in the midst of her pure horror.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “CHARLENE’S RUINED!!! HER TIRES ARE MISSING!” Evie shrieked, and Mal squeezed Evie’s shoulder.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “I know, I know, I’m sure they’re around here somewhere, though, E,” Mal assured her, and Evie shook her head swiftly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Those tires were super rare, and I just got them last week!!! They’re brand new!!!” Evie almost looked as if she might burst into tears at any moment.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “It’s okay, Evie, it’s fine. Don’t be sad. Don’t cry,” Mal told her, leaning over and trying to pull the taller girl’s gaze away from the vehicle.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “These are not sad tears!!!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “In that case, don’t kill the boys. We still have to get revenge,” Uma piped up, and Evie offered her only the barest of glances.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What’s going on out here, guys?” Audrey questioned, and Evie turned her head to look at the pink princess that had just joined them. Mal followed Evie’s gaze and they both jumped in surprise at the sight of Audrey’s visage.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What the heck happened to your face?!” Evie cried, her eyes wide as Mal grabbed onto the bluenette’s arms, and Audrey just glared at the other girl.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Don’t ask,” Audrey ground out, and Evie didn’t bother focusing on the princess in favor of turning to her car.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What the heck happened to your car?” Audrey turned the question on Evie, and Mal moved her hand across her throat in a silencing motion, trying to turn Audrey away from that question. Evie then practically had another meltdown.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “THEY MESSED UP MY CHARLENE!!!!” Evie wailed, and Mal sighed slightly, one hand on Evie’s back and the other in the bluenette’s hand. Audrey’s eyes widened and she raised her eyebrows in surprise.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Jane came out of the house at that moment, out of her pajamas and in one of her usual dresses. She had her phone in hand and was intently studying it. However, after a moment, she looked up from it and she realized what had happened to Evie’s Jeep.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Wow! They really messed up Charlene!’ Jane cried, and Mal closed her eyes, knowing what dramatics she was about to have to deal with thanks to Jane once again pointing that fact out.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “My poor, poor car!” Evie whined desperately, looking between the vehicle and Mal desperately. Audrey looked back at Jane with a warning expression, hoping that the fairy wouldn’t say anything else that pertained to Evie’s car. After all, she had already learned her lesson about that.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Woah! They really messed up your face, too!” Jane announced, and Uma snorted. Audrey shot the pirate a glare, and Uma just shrugged a bit, clearing her throat as she smirked.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Huh, I guess I’m the only one that hasn’t been got by the boys,” Jane pointed out, pursing her lips in thought. She then smiled widely and happily.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Carlos must love me a lot!” Jane stated, full of shining optimism. Audrey rolled her eyes in response to the fairy.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Come on, girls, let’s go in and get something to eat while we discuss what to do to our boys,” Audrey suggested, and Mal finally managed to get Evie to move, her hand laced in the bluenette’s. Evie’s gaze lingered on the Jeep longingly and worriedly, but she finally decided to move back toward the house. Everyone except for Audrey passed Jane, and Jane then turned and started to follow the group.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  However, Audrey suddenly gasped loudly as she stared at the seat of Jane’s dress in horror. There before her, the behind of Jane’s dress was cut out, exposing what would have been her underwear-covered behind. Well, if the dress was not exposing Jane’s very revealing, very frightening thongs.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Obviously, Carlos did not love her that much.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  At Audrey’s gasp, Uma stopped in her walking next to Mal and Evie to look back at the princess. Jane was currently looking at her phone, and she didn’t even notice the sudden stop.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Uma furrowed her brow at Audrey, and Audrey, in the midst of covering her eyes in mortification, pointed at Jane. Mal and Evie stopped with Uma, picking up on this exchange, and they all turned their gaze to Jane who was now walking in front of the group. Evie’s jaw dropped and Mal’s eyes looked as if they might fall out of her head as they took in the sight. Uma just raised an eyebrow as she watched the girl.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  However, after a moment, she smirked and spoke up.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Hey, moonglow, did you forget something?” Uma questioned, laughing a bit in spite of herself, and Jane stopped after a moment, looking back at the lot of them. She was confused for a moment before she finally seemed to realize that Uma was talking to her. Jane furrowed her brow as she turned to face Uma, looking down at the front of her dress.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “No… I don’t think so,” Jane replied with a slight smile, and Uma just grinned evilly in return. Jane then continued ahead of the other girls, going into Evie’s starter castle.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Oh, my gosh, Jane wears thongs,” Evie murmured underneath her breath, gaping at the other girl as if her eyes were branded to that one place. Mal rolled her eyes, and tried her best not to look at the other girl walking ahead of them that was missing essential parts of her underwear.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “And that’s my dress that’s cut!” Evie cried, her voice only a tiny bit louder as she squeaked. Mal chanced a small glance at the top of the dress, before looking back at her best friend that was still completely frozen in horror.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “It looks like it. Did you make her thongs, too?” Mal questioned with her voice hushed, and Uma suddenly leaned in, catching onto the tails of the conversation.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “And after you told me you wouldn’t make me any?!” Uma questioned accusingly, and Evie gaped at Uma before returning her horrified gaze to Jane.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “No, I didn’t make her any!” Evie replied quickly, and Mal shook her head, realizing that Evie was still unable to stop staring at Jane.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Evie, stop staring!” Mal whispered to the bluenette, and Evie worked her hardest to rip her gaze from the horror right in front of her. Evie’s eyes were exceedingly wide, and she felt completely and utterly mortified as well as disgusted.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “I’m sorry! I’m just so violated right now on so many levels!” Evie squeaked and Evie took hold of Mal’s shoulders, guiding her around so that she was in front of Evie. Evie ducked down a bit behind Mal at that moment, trying to hide from the frightening sight that she had just witnessed.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  They all made their way inside, Audrey nearly running into the doorway in her attempts to cover her eyes, and Uma keeping up a constant giggle storm as she unashamedly took multiple pictures on her iPhone.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Jane finally turned to the girls as she stopped beside one of Evie’s dining chairs, and Uma wasted no time in placing her hands behind her back swiftly, trying to look innocent. Evie raised her head a bit from her hiding place behind Mal, and Mal tried to muster the slightest of smiles, despite the fact that she definitely did not feel like smiling about Jane’s particular predicament. Audrey peeked out from behind her hand and swiftly put a hand over her mouth as she crossed her other arm underneath her opposite elbow, trying desperately to look casual.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What is going on with you four?” Jane questioned, looking quite disturbed by the lot of them, and Uma shook her head with a smile.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Hey, are you feeling a bit like you’re, umm… I don’t know… Walking on air?” Uma questioned with an enormous, evil grin, and Mal mentally facepalmed as Evie finally came out from behind Mal, standing beside the shorter girl.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Walking on air?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “You know… Set it all free? Let it go? Can’t hold it back anymore?” Uma asked, and Jane just stared at all of them as if they had lost their minds. Jane shook her head a bit before pulling her chair out and readying herself to sit down. Everyone’s eyes widened as they realized that the other girl was soon going to figure out precisely what was going on with everybody.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “I don’t know what’s going on with you guys, but I really wish you’d tell me,” Jane expressed before sitting down in the wood chair.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Jane’s eyes suddenly bugged out of her head a bit as she looked around awkwardly. Jane reached down slowly, reaching beneath her behind where it was touching the chair seat.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  The fairy then shot up from her chair like a flash, turning around swiftly as she tried to see the seat of her pants behind her.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Audrey had reclused back behind her hand, Mal was pinching the bridge of her nose, and Uma was subtly videoing the entire thing. Evie was just gaping at Jane in horror and disgust, her head moving sideways as she watched her spin around. Mal just reached up carefully, laying a hand over Evie’s eyes.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Jane finally froze, her face looking quite pale indeed as she gaped at the girls. Her eyes finally settled on Uma’s phone that was held out in front of her, videoing her still, and her eyes went even wider as she turned white as a sheet.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Smile, you’re on candid camera,” Uma pointed out with a wicked smile, and Jane wobbled a bit. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she lost all semblances of balance.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  And she then promptly passed out, falling on the floor.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  They all watched the girl for a moment before Mal shook her head, pulling herself from her gaping. Mal squeezed Evie’s arm fondly before starting forward.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Come on, E, let’s get her a fresh change of clothes and take her to your bedroom so she can change,” Mal told the other girl, and Evie followed along easily, taking one of Jane’s arms as they readied themselves to drag her. Uma approached them, her phone at the ready.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “You guys think you could turn her over? I need a good shot for future blackmail and embarrassment,” Uma explained, laughing evilly, and the two best friends shook their heads.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>   “Uma, I think you’ve gotten plenty of footage for today. Besides, if we turned her over, Evie probably wouldn’t be able to stop staring.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “M! Have you ever seen anything so frightening and disgusting that you just can’t look away?! Like it’s the most horrifying thing you’ve ever seen, but you can’t stop staring! It was like Medusa, and it turned me to stone, my eyes frozen in place,” Evie told them desperately, and Mal couldn’t help but snort in response to Evie’s ridiculous, very imaginative way of telling things.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Man, you know, I didn’t have a clue that Jane, the most innocent of all of us, wore thongs!” Uma announced, cackling as she watched Mal and Evie drag the fairy down the hall.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Very few people do,” Audrey informed the pirate, and Uma’s gaze snapped to Audrey.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What--- you mean you knew she wore thongs? And you didn’t tell me?!” Uma demanded, and Audrey shook her head, sighing.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Yes, I live with her in the dorms at Auradon Prep. There’s some things that you just know when you’re living with someone,” Audrey informed Uma, and Uma shook her head in amazement.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  They sat down at Evie’s dinner table, waiting for the other two girls to return as they talked. Finally, Evie and Mal came back, and they joined Uma and Audrey.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Y’all get her set up?” Uma inquired, and the two best friends nodded.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Yeah, we did. Evie’s scarred for life, though. I haven’t had time to decide if I am yet. I’ve seen so much in one day that I’ve got to process it all before I make the final verdict,” Mal pointed out, and Uma nodded with a slight chuckle before suddenly looking more serious.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “So, what do you propose we do about our guys?” Uma asked, primarily looking at Mal as she spoke, and Audrey nodded in agreeance, watching Mal as well. From her position beside Mal, Evie looked to the shorter girl hopefully, reaching over and taking Mal’s hand in her own.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Mal squeezed Evie’s hand in her own absently, considering the entire ordeal carefully as they sat there in silence.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  After a few minutes, Mal looked back at all of them, her eyes glinting with that dangerous glowing green that all three of the others knew to beware.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Let’s give them a taste of their own medicine.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>   ………………………………………………………………………………………………………</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>       “Hey, guys, let’s each text the girls!” Jay suggested with a devilish smile, pausing the video game that they were currently all engrossed with to look at the other boys.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Harry’s eyes lit up with a familiar evil, insane glint, and Gil, as usual, was excited to do anything with the other guys. Carlos looked interested in that boyishly mischievous sort of way that he had. However, Ben seemed as if he was unsure of the entire situation, but he had a small smile on his face.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Jay grinned, and they all withdrew their phones. Harry started to text Uma with Gil looking over his shoulder eagerly and Jay as well as Ben began texting their respective girls.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “I’m going to get Eves and Jane,” Carlos informed them, and Jay nodded slightly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  They each asked the girls varying expressions of questions pertaining to how they were, and they leaned back against the couch, all of them except Ben chuckling to themselves.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Boy, oh, boy. I bet Foxy nearly crapped her pants this morning when she found the soap I left her,” Jay informed the other guys, laughing wickedly, and Carlos nodded emphatically.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “And I bet Uma really liked the whole poop in her shoe deal! I think Dude’s shaved butt bettered his aim, because he nailed that target,” Carlos grinned, reaching down and scratching the dog’s head, and Dude panted happily.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Evie’s wheels were super fun to take off, though,” Gil piped up, looking at his partner in crime, and Harry nodded evilly, his eyes glowing with mischief. They all looked to Ben, noticing that he hadn’t said anything yet, and the young king shook his head.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Well, I did find some enjoyment in tying Serge to Mal’s side of the bed. But I’m not so sure I’m going to enjoy what happens when she figures out it was me,” Ben told them, looking somewhat nervous, and Jay just laughed at the other boy. However, Harry seriously considered this statement, thinking of how his captain might react to the prank regardless of who was actually behind her individual one.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “But there’s one thing I didn’t get,” Carlos trailed off, pursing his lips in thought. Jay tilted his head, looking at the other boy curiously.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Why did me and you cut a big patch out of the back of Jane’s dress?” Carlos asked the former thief, and Jay’s face lit up in an odd, secretive smirk.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “You don’t wanna know,” Jay informed him.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Well, I don’t know, man, I kinda need to know these things. And why do you know whatever it is but I don’t?! She’s <em>my </em>girlfriend!” Carlos questioned somewhat accusingly as he furrowed his brow at the other boy.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Audrey told me,” Jay informed him, and Carlos scrunched his nose, not sure what exactly that was supposed to mean.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  But he didn’t have much time to contemplate that idea before the boys’ phones started to go off.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Alright, let’s see what we’ve got here!” Jay announced, and they all examined the screens on their smartphones with looks varying from mild fear--- largely on Ben’s part--- and wicked excitement.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  However, their expressions of happiness quickly dropped, and they all looked disappointed. Ben, on the other hand, just looked infinitely more terrified.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Audrey says that her morning’s been fine,” Jay pointed out, and all of the other boys nodded.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Yeah, that’s essentially what Evie told me. Jane hasn’t even read the message I sent to her,” Carlos pointed out, and Harry shrugged.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Uma said tha’ they ‘ad a wild night and ended up passin’ out from exhaustion on Evie’s bed,” Harry informed them, his eyes reflecting his pure unhappiness with the lack of rection that he had received from his captain.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “And Mal says that they’re going to be spending another night at Evie’s place if that’s okay with us,” Ben added, looking quite nervous indeed.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Guys, this isn’t good,” Ben informed them, and Jay raised an eyebrow.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “How so?” Jay asked, and Ben shook his head worriedly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “You know they had to have run into at least most of our pranks. Something’s up if they’re being this calm about it,” Ben informed them, and Harry sat up a bit straighter, nodding emphatically.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Kingy’s right. Mal and Uma don’t take things lyin’ down, ye know,” Harry explained, and the two shared a wise nod. Jay furrowed his brow, thinking about this for a moment.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Hmm… Maybe we should keep our guards up,” Jay told them, and the other boys nodded in agreeance.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  And so that’s what they proceeded to do for the rest of that day.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  However, to their utter and complete surprise, the girls didn’t do anything to them at all, so by the end of the night, they had mostly written off the need to be cautious and instead assured themselves that the girls would likely try to strike when they came back from spending the night at Evie’s place.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  But this peace was simply not meant to be.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Florian? Hey, Florian? Wake up,” a voice sounded off nearby Ben’s bed, and Ben drowsily came out of unconsciousness.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Wh--- huh?” Ben questioned, before almost squealing upon realizing that some tall figure was standing by his bed.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  It was early morning, and the rays of sunlight were just barely peeking in to expose to Ben the face of his very own father-in-law. Hades stood there beside his bed, looking down at him with a solemn expression. Ben jumped a bit, reaching over and turning on his lamp as he stared at the god of the Underworld.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Hades! Umm… What can I do for you?” Ben asked politely, making sure that he was on his best behavior. After all, this was his wife’s father, and he wanted to impress him if he possibly could.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Hades looked at the boy for a long time before drawing his lips in a tight line.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “I’m sorry, but it’s your time,” Hades expressed carefully, shaking his head, and Ben just gaped at him blankly. He had no idea what the god meant by his time, and he hated to look like a complete moron, but he found that he had to ask.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “My time?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “It’s your time,” Hades informed him, and actually looked as if he felt sorry for the boy. Ben furrowed his brow, trying to figure out what he thought his time was.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What’s my time?” Ben asked, and Hades sighed.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “You know. The time that I come to collect your soul. The end of your time on this Earth. The beginning of your time in a new world,” Hades informed him, looking genuinely regretful as he stood there before the boy.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Ben’s eyes widened as his heart practically stopped. He didn’t even realize that he was nearly hyperventilating until he started to try to speak.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Wh-wh-what?! I’m… I’m dying?!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Yes. You’re about to be dead, actually,” Hades informed him, his hands folded in front of him, and Ben shook his head quickly in negation, completely panicking as he sat up in his bed.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  He didn’t want to die. He had so much to live for. His kingdom, his parents, a future with Mal. There was no way that he could die this suddenly. He thought he was in his prime, doing excellently.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Aren’t I in perfect health?!” Ben questioned, and Hades raised his eyebrows and tilted his head a bit.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “I suppose. Sometimes these things just happen, though,” Hades informed the boy somewhat sadly. Ben held his head in his hands, freaking out but quickly released his head in favor of staring at Hades hopefully.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Please, is there anything<em> I</em> can do?!” Ben inquired, his eyes filling a bit with unshed tears. This was all just so sudden.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “No, Florian. I’m sorry. When it’s your time,” Hades sucked in a breath, shrugging, “it’s your time. There’s not much you can do about it.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “So you kind of just have to put your head between your knees and kiss your butt goodbye,” Hades finished with an apologetic expression, and Ben shook his head, very much in denial.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Can I get a doctor? A surgeon? Anyone to help?!” Ben demanded desperately, and Hades sighed deeply.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Look, kid. I’m sorry.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Surely you can do something! You’re the god of the Underworld! Can’t you do anything at all?!” Ben pleaded, looking to Hades as the tears actually did start to come down his face. Hades furrowed his brow in thought, staying silent for a long time.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  After a few moments, Hades’s light blue-green gaze returned to that of Ben’s with a strange expression.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “There <em>is</em> one thing that I can do,” Hades told him shortly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What?! Please! I don’t want to die!” Ben cried as he leaned forward, watching Hades as if the god was his lifeline. Of course, at this point, he was.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “I can put off the inevitable for one day. It’s not a policy that I like to use, because it’s ordinarily very against the rules of Underworld management. But in this special case, because you are the king, it can be used,” Hades explained, and Ben nodded eagerly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Of course, of course! Oh, thank you, thank you!!!” Ben expressed, jumping up from his place in bed and hugging Hades quickly against his better judgement.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Hades just stood there stiffly, and Ben suddenly realized precisely what he had done. Ben jumped backward, releasing the god as he stood there.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “<em>Don’t</em> do that again. Or I will revoke the policy,” Hades informed him, pointing a finger at the boy, and Ben nodded, keeping his arms at his side. Hades then turned and exited the room. Ben shook his head swiftly, scrambling for his phone.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  He dialed the number swiftly, and he waited a few moments, hoping and praying that the person would answer the phone.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Finally, someone answered, and Ben started.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Hello, could I get a doctor or someone to come to the king’s castle? I have an emergency.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Meanwhile, in a different part of the castle, someone else was about to have a phone call as well. However, it was going to be of a much different nature than that of Ben’s.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Carlos squinted, rolling over in bed as he reached over to the phone that was ringing irritatingly and constantly. He grabbed it carefully, checking the caller ID. It didn’t seem to be anyone he knew, but he guessed that he’d try it anyway. It could be someone from school.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Hello?” Carlos drowsily questioned, and to his complete and utter horror, a voice that he hadn’t heard in about two or three years rang out in his ear.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p> “Carlos?! Carlos?! Is this Carlos?!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p> “Mom!!!” Carlos yelped, immediately wide awake as he shivered a bit in terror.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Oh, it is you!” Carlos’s eyes widened in unadulterated terror. How had she gotten his number? And how had she figured out how to call anyone?</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “H-how did you get this number?!” Carlos cried, horrified by the entire ordeal.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Oh, um… I got it from the phone book, of course!” the voice informed him as if it were the most obvious fact in the world. Carlos shook his head, scared out of his skin.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What do you want?!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Carlos, that’s no way to speak to your mother!” the woman scolded, and Carlos shivered, completely terrified.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “But I want my boy back!” she expressed, and Carlos stopped shivering just a bit, allowing himself to hope that maybe, just maybe she had changed more than he thought.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Really?” Carlos finally questioned, risking hoping.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Well, of course! I need someone to keep up the house! It’s fallen into such a dreadful state!” she told him, and Carlos groaned. He realized that he couldn’t give in to her. Besides, he was living far, far away from her now, and she likely didn’t even know where precisely.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “I’m not your housekeeper. Hire someone, because I’m not doing it. Not anymore,” Carlos stood up to her boldly, and she was deathly silent for a long moment. Carlos immediately regretted his statement, feeling his stomach drop to his feet.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Oooh, Carlos… I guess Mother’s just going to have to come and get you at the king’s castle,” she informed him, and Carlos’s mouth immediately went dry as he blubbered, moving his mouth but with no sound coming out.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “See you soon, Carlos!” she told him before hanging up suddenly. Carlos’s eyes went wide, and he tried to resist his first instinct to dive underneath the bed.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  He thought for a moment, and ultimately decided that there was only one real option. He needed to get Jay, Mal, and Evie. Carlos gathered his things in terror, grabbing Dude on his way out. The dog had been asleep before Carlos grabbed him, and the dog jumped a bit in surprise as Carlos snatched him.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Carlos?! What’s going on?!” Dude cried, and Carlos shook his head.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “We’ve got to get Jay and the girls!” Carlos cried, and Dude didn’t ask any more questions as the boy rushed through the halls in a panic.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  As they rushed along, they suddenly heard a girl-like squeal, and Carlos furrowed his brow, stopping in front of Harry, Uma, and Gil’s place. He shared a glance with the dog, and knocked on the door.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Hey? Is everything okay in there?!” Carlos asked, attempting to control his initial urge to run directly to Jay’s room so that he could properly check on the two boys.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “’ELP ME!!!! IT’S GONNA BLOODY KILL ME!!!” a shriek sounded off that was definitively Harry’s, despite its high pitch, and Carlos barged into the room.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  He ran for Harry’s room, opening the door quickly, and he spotted the one and only Harry Hook standing on top of his headboard in terror, staring at something down on his bed.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What is---”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Where’s Gil? Gil’s a better fit for this particular, eh, job! Yes, job that I need taken care of!” Harry told the boy, not taking his eyes off of whatever was sitting there on the bed. Carlos stepped closer, trying to figure out what was going on. The de Vil boy then spotted some movement on the bed, and Harry jerked from his place on the headboard.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “HELP ME!!! Wee Laddy, get it, get it, get it! It’s the largest bloody thing tha’ I’ve e’er seen!” Harry cried desperately, and Carlos stepped closer to the bed. His eyes went wide as he took in the sight of the giant spider on the bed. It was the true definition of a tarantula, and it had all of the large legs and the hairy body.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Woah, that’s huge!’</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “See, I ain’t whistlin’ Dixie, do somethin’ about it!” Harry cried, his eyes as large as saucers as he stared at the arachnid on the bed.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Carlos looked around fearfully, trying to find something that might work. He quickly spotted a nearby shoebox and he made a mad dash for it. He took it and used its lid to quickly throw the spider down into it.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Harry pulled off a full-body shiver, still standing and hanging onto the wall.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Okay, you can get down now. I’ve gotta go! See you later!” Carlos told the Hook boy, turning and starting out of the room. Harry was quickly behind the de Vil boy, and Carlos eyes snapped to Harry’s form in an unspoken question. Harry just shrugged nonchalantly with a smirk.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Oi, jus’ thought I’d come with ye, eh? Sound good? Good,” Harry nodded, not waiting to hear Carlos’s answer as he barged out of the door. Carlos rolled his eyes, but hurried after him, not wasting time as they left the apartment, slamming the door behind them.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  At that moment, Gil woke up, furrowing his brow as he heard the door slam.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Huh… I wonder who that was?” Gil questioned to himself a bit groggily. He rubbed his eyes carefully, and suddenly heard his stomach rumbling. He looked down at his belly and he grinned.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Oh… I’m hungry. Let’s get some breakfast,” Gil told himself, patting his stomach and getting out of bed. He headed over to the door, reaching out to turn the doorknob. However, it would not open at all. It was completely stuck.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Gil furrowed his brow.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Uh… Harry?! Harry?!” Gil called, and there was no response. To the boy’s fear, there seemed to be no one there, and the door still wasn’t opening. Gil started yanking at the door more furiously but to no avail.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Gil’s eyes widened as he realized that he was trapped. Gil’s biggest fear was being left alone, and being trapped was just adding to it significantly. Gil’s eyes widened as he tried to figure out what to do.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  He shook the doorknob a bit, staring at the door before banging on it desperately.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “LET ME OUT!!!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  But the other boys were blissfully unaware of Gil’s situation.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  In fact, Jay was only just waking up.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Jay stretched somewhat, barely opening his eyes, and he furrowed his brow as he realized that his face was covered in hair.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What the---” Jay grabbed at the hair carefully, pulling it from his face. To his utmost confusion and horror, the hair came off from his face in chunks. Jay furrowed his brow, starting to breathe a bit hard as he realized that it was brown hair that seemed to have come from his head.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Jay looked around him, and there on the pillow was a ton of long brown hairs lying there. His eyes widened and he picked up the strands, freaking out. Where had all of his hair gone? All of his long hair had completely disappeared.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Jay’s long hair was his pride and joy, and it was quite possibly his favorite attribute. He shook his head swiftly and noticed that there was no long hair falling down into his face.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Jay swung his head hard, trying to fling his hair over his shoulder. To his horror, there was no hair to fling. Jay’s hands shook a bit as he reached up and touched his head.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “No. No, no, no, no!” Jay cried, hopping up from the bed in the midst of pure panic. He made a mad dash for the mirror, and his eyes widened as he realized that his hair appeared to be simply pulled back.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Jay narrowed his eyes, leaning his head to the side, and he swiftly noticed that his hair was pulled back in a bun. Jay turned back and look at the bed, seeing all of the loose hair. Jay looked at his head closely, and realized that all of his hair seemed to be present.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Which would mean that someone wanted him to think that he had lost his hair. He immediately realized what had happened.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  The girls had definitely not been over the boys’ pranks.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Suddenly, Jay heard a banging at the door. Jay turned in that direction, and as soon as he did, Carlos came barging in.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What’s up?” Jay asked, immediately noticing how panicked that Carlos looked and how it was likely as a result of something the girls must have done.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Oh, it’s terrible, man, it’s terrible!” Carlos cried, and Harry suddenly came in behind the de Vil boy. Jay narrowed his eyes at the sight of the pirate.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What’s he doing here?” Jay asked curiously, and Carlos looked back at Harry before continuing in his nervous ranting.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Oh, he came with me after there was this giant spider in his room, and he---”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “I ‘ad to get a shovel!” Harry quickly interjected, and Jay raised an eyebrow. “Ye know, ‘cuz ‘twas so big and I massacred it so badly that I’m gonna ‘ave to bury it in the backyard.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Jay eyed him skeptically, but turned his attentions to Carlos, deciding he would deal with Harry later. It seemed that Harry had ended up on the bad end of a prank as well if his nervousness about the mentioning of the spider was anything to go by.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What is it, Carlos?” Jay asked, trying to get an answer out of his little brother.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “It’s my mom! She knows I’m living here, and she somehow got my phone number!” Carlos cried, and Jay sighed, mostly confident of who he thought had actually called Carlos.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “It sounded like your mom?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Bro, I know my mom’s voice when I hear it,” Carlos informed him, nervously petting Dude, and Jay’s suspicions were confirmed. It logically could not be Cruella that had called Carlos, and if it sounded just like her, Jay knew it had to have been Mal. Mal was a master at impressions and had proved herself multiple times.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Carlos, do you remember when me, you, and the girls were all messing around and trying to do impressions of various people?” Jay asked, and Carlos nodded nervously.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Well, of course, but what does that have to do with anything?!” Harry raised an eyebrow at the shorter boy as he passed him, heading further into the room as he examined the items inside. Jay’s gaze shifted to the son of Hook, and he mentally noted to keep a close eye on him just in case.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Okay, so do you also remember that one that Mal did last?” Jay questioned, hoping that he could jog the boy’s memory. Carlos was exceedingly intelligent, but sometimes his fear got the better of him and he forgot some basic logic that was required to get from point A to point B.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Yeah, my---” Carlos froze, realizing exactly what Jay was hinting at. Carlos furrowed his brow, looking at the former thief.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “No… They wouldn’t… Did they?” Carlos questioned, and Jay shrugged.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “I woke up with a setup that made it look like my hair was cut off,” Jay explained to him, and Carlos nodded slowly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Oh, and I guess that’d explain why Harry got the spider and was screaming like such a little girl!” Carlos announced, and Harry’s eyes widened as he realized what the de Vil boy had exposed. Jay smirked, looking at Harry somewhat smugly and Harry shook his head swiftly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Oi, that ‘twasn’t me, ‘twas me ringtone! Aye, aye, ye see, I get to hear screams every time someone calls me!” Harry defended himself desperately, but knew the damage was already done.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Do you think they got Ben and Gil, too?” Carlos asked, and Jay shrugged, giving Harry one last lingering glance before withdrawing his phone.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “There’s one way to find out,” Jay told them before dialing Ben’s number and pressing the call button. Jay leaned against his desk, waiting for the other boy to pick up.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Surprisingly, it only took a moment, and Ben sounded as if he were in a sheer panic.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “<em>Jay, Jay, hello?! Is that you?!</em>” Ben almost hysterically demanded, and Jay’s eyes widened. What had the girls done to Ben?</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Yeah, it’s me. What’s up, man?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “<em>Nothing good, nothing at all good! It’s my time, dude, it’s my time!!!</em>” Ben wailed, sounding almost as if he were crying. Jay was immediately uncomfortable, not knowing how to deal with this.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What do you mean your time?” Jay asked, trying to get clarification surrounding Ben’s situation.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “<em>It’s my time to die!</em>” Ben informed him, and Jay raised an eyebrow, holding the phone out from his ear as he winced slightly. Ben had told him this so loudly that Harry and Carlos had actually heard it from a few feet away, and the other two boys stared at Jay strangely. Jay just shrugged.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Who told you this?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “<em>Hades did! And he’s an expert on these kinds of things, so he’s probably right! If it’s my time, it’s my time!</em>” Ben explained, breathing heavily, and Jay nodded slowly, rolling his eyes. It was just as he had suspected. Mal had asked her dad to scare the living daylights out of Ben in retaliation for the entire dog by her bedside trick.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “<em>Oh, I’m so glad you called! Do you happen to be around Mal? She isn’t answering my calls, and I’m sort of panicking just a little bit!!!</em>” Ben cried, and Jay sighed, smiling slightly at the ridiculousness of his brother-in-law.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Just a wee bit?” Harry questioned, making fun of the young king, and Jay decided to explain to Ben what was going on.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Ben? Hey, dude, listen to me. This a trick that Mal pulled to get back at you after the whole dog thing,” Jay explained, and Ben went quiet for a moment.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “<em>Wh--- You think so? Really?!</em>” Ben questioned hopefully, and Jay nodded.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Yeah, I do. You see, Harry woke up with a spider in his bed---”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “’Twas a tarantula!” Harry piped up, throwing in his account of the ordeal.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Well, you know, a spider, and Carlos got a threatening call from his mother who doesn’t know his phone number. I woke up thinking all my hair was gone, and it turned out that there was just cut hair all over my pillow, bed, and face so I’d think my hair was missing,” Jay explained carefully, hoping the other boy would calm down.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “<em>Oh… Oh, oh! That’s a relief! Oh, phew, I thought I was going to die, Jay!!!</em>” Ben told him joyously, laughing a bit at the end of his exclamation.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “No kidding,” Carlos sarcastically commented, and Jay just grinned in response to his brother, but tried to keep his smile away and out of his voice so Ben wouldn’t think that he was laughing at him.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “<em>But… You only said what happened to you, Harry, and Carlos. What happened to Gil?</em>” Ben questioned somewhat worriedly, and Jay furrowed his brow.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “I don’t know. We’ll meet you up at your study, and we’ll swing by to see what Gil’s up to on our way. We need to cling together. There’s no telling what their next trick might be,” Jay told him, and they exchanged goodbyes before hanging up.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Jay nodded to the other boys, and they hurried down the hall, heading for Uma, Gil, and Harry’s place.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Before long, they were inside the apartment, and they reached Gil’s door, realizing it was locked. Jay furrowed his brow, hearing what sounded like somewhat panicked breathing. Jay unlocked the door, pushing at it carefully, and he quickly realized that Gil must have been sitting behind it.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Yo, Gil? Hey, dude, move,” Jay spoke, and Gil suddenly jumped to his feet, moving out of the way of the door. Jay opened it the rest of the way and Gil had a giant smile on his face as he leapt forward.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Jay! Harry! Carlos! You guys are here!!!” Gil cried, and Jay nodded, a bit weirded out, but glad that the boy wasn’t completely traumatized.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Oh, my goodness, I’ve been locked in there for ages! I had so many things I needed to say!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Like, ‘oh, my gosh, I’m stuck!’ and ‘I need to get out of here!’ and ‘I’m gonna starve to death!’ and ‘I really wish I could kiss Evie!’ and ‘Maybe I could go out with Evie and get some food for us!’” Gil started running his mouth constantly, and Carlos and Jay shared an unimpressed grin as the four headed out, Gil quickly behind them. First of all, Gil’s incessant blabbering was already getting annoying, and second, Jay knew how Evie would feel about Gil and his hopeless dreams of dating Evie. Evie would probably fall onto the floor and flop around like a fish if she even thought about it.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Y’know, I’m beginning to think we should’ve kept him locked in there,” Carlos murmured under his breath. Jay chuckled at that comment, ruffling the de Vil boy’s hair.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  After what felt like forever as a result of Gil’s chatter, they finally reached Ben’s study. Ben was sitting there on one of the couches, looking very nervous as he jumped when they entered the room.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Oh, it’s just you guys. Good, good,” Ben breathed out in relief, and the other four boys plopped down on the couches, relaxing as they sighed deeply.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “You know, we really shouldn’t have started this whole thing,” Ben finally expressed after a few moments, and Harry was just about to agree with him before Carlos suddenly piped up, Dude in his arms.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Oh, yes, we should have! Uma shaved Dude’s butt!” Carlos cried, and Jay just sighed deeply, thinking seriously on the entire thing.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Guys, I don’t think we were unjustified in this fight. The girls attacked our video games---”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “And my dog’s dignity!” Carlos added. Jay nodded to the boy in agreeance with his statement.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “In fact, I think that the girls should apologize to us for causing such a ruckus and scaring us all so badly,” Jay informed them all.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “As if that’s gonna ‘appen. The day that Uma and Mal come in here with an apology’ll be the day tha’ pigs fly,” Harry informed them sarcastically, and the other boys chuckled a bit in response to the pirate.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Hey, guys? Are you in here?” Mal’s voice rang out, and Ben nearly jumped off of the couch in the midst of his pure terror. The other boys just turned to look at the girls that had come into the room.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  There before them were Mal, Evie, Uma, Audrey, and Jane.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “We came to apologize,” Mal expressed, and all of the boys gaped at them in pure shock.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  The two groups just stared at one another for a long moment, but they were pulled from their shocked staring when Gil got up and headed over to the window nearby his and Harry’s seat, gazing out of it curiously.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What is he doing?” Uma questioned, narrowing her eyes at Gil.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Oh, I’m looking for the flying pigs!” Gil informed her, and Harry rolled his eyes, grabbing the back of Gil’s vest and pulling him back down into his seat.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  The boys then resumed in gaping at the girls. After a moment of studying the group, Jay realized that Audrey looked to have the slightest hints of blackness on her face and her complexion was redder than usual. He strongly suspected that she had gotten into his soap, which made it even stranger that she was so willing to forgive him and the other guys. He shared a glance with the boys, signaling them to be on their guard.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “So… You came to apologize?” Carlos finally asked confusedly, and Audrey nodded, stepping up as she looked at the boys with a sweet smile on her face.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Yes, we did. In case you haven’t figured it out, it was us that pranked you guys,” Audrey explained, and the boys all expressed varying forms of agreement, all of them well aware that the girls had tricked them.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “We were doing it to get revenge for what you did to us,” Uma continued, and Harry in particular nodded, knowing how his captain was about getting even.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “But we started thinking and we realized that we were really capitalizing on your worst fears, and that we had overall been very harsh on you guys with the pranking and what we said before,” Evie told them, her brown eyes shining with that bedazzling glow of care that was so characteristic of her.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>   “So, we made you guys a cake,” Jane spoke up, and left the room to bring in a large chocolate cake decorated with white frosting, a knife and forks on the side of the cake plate and plates for the boys stacked underneath the cake plate.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  The boys immediately felt their stomachs rumble. After all, they hadn’t had anything to eat so far that morning, and besides, chocolate cake was their weakness.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “We hope you can forgive us,” Mal finished, and all of the girls offered them their most sweet and winning looks. The boys were heavily tempted by the cake, but Jay knew they couldn’t give in that quickly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Now, wait a minute. This thing doesn’t have any raw eggs or some kind of foreign objects like that in it, does it?” Jay questioned skeptically, and Ben nodded with him, terrified of what Mal could possibly do to the lot of them.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  All of the girls shook their heads.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “No. No raw eggs or foreign objects,” Jane expressed. “I should know. I made it.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  The boys looked at one another, finding it nigh impossible to resist the prospect of a good chocolate cake.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Okay… We’ll take it,” Jay told them, and he stood up, taking it from them carefully. He then carefully sat it down on the coffee table. The five girls went to go and sit down on the empty couch that no boys were resting on, and they gazed at their guys sweetly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Jay watched them skepitcally, and then handed the knife to Ben.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Here, Ben, you cut it,” Jay told him, and Ben furrowed his brow, definitely not wanting to accidentally slice into whatever foreign object that despite their words, he was sure the girls had probably put in it.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  However, Ben eventually did start to very carefully and slowly slice big pieces of cake for each of the boys. To his surprise, it seemed to be completely free of any tricks. Ben raised his eyebrows in surprise and handed each of the guys their slices.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  They all silently eyed one another before taking a very small, tentative bite of the cake on their plates. That is, except for Gil. Gil simply just dove into his cake, forgoing all worries about potential traps.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Huh. Tastes just like a chocolate cake to me!” Carlos pointed out before taking several more big bites of his cake. The other boys watched Carlos and Gil, and after nothing had happened, they started to dig into theirs as well.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Carlos grinned widely, greatly enjoying the cake. However, after a moment, he looked up at Uma with a slightly more serious expression.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “This might cover all that stuff you did to us and said about our video games, but this doesn’t work for shaving my dog’s butt,” Carlos informed Uma. Uma just narrowed her eyes at him and set her jaw, suddenly looking exceedingly dangerous. Carlos’s eyes widened and he immediately apologized, turning his attentions back to his cake slice.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Don’t push your luck, de Vil,” Uma warned shortly before looking a bit more at ease, relaxing between Audrey and Mal.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Before long, the boys finished their cake pieces. Ben felt immensely relieved that the girls seemed to have not held a grudge. Carlos was pleased with the fact that Uma had actually apologized. Gil and Harry were very happy with the entire turn of events, and they licked their lips, trying to collect any chocolate they could have missed. Jay burped suddenly, covering his mouth with a fist as he smiled in satisfaction.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Ah… That was good,” Jay complimented, and the girls just beamed, glancing at the members of their group before looking back at the boys.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “We’re glad you liked it,” Jane expressed with a proud smile, and Carlos grinned back at her, thankful that Jane loved him so much. She hadn’t even rigged the cake, despite the fact that she could have.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “So… Do you forgive us?” Audrey questioned hopefully, and Jay pretended to think for a moment before nodding easily.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Yeah. That was so good, you guys more than made up for what you did,” Jay expressed with a large grin, and Audrey smiled widely. Evie puffed up with happiness, wrapping an arm around Mal’s neck as she pulled her sister closer. Uma offered them a genuine smile.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  They continued to talk for a little while longer, enjoying spending time as a group once again.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  However, before long, the boys noticed something a bit strange. Their stomachs were suddenly hurting really bad and there was a building pressure in their abdomens.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Harry was the first to succumb to the pain, and he subtly bent over in his seat, clutching at his stomach. Uma immediately picked up on the</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What’s wrong, Hook? The cake not setting well with you?” Uma asked much too innocently, and Harry’s eyes widened as it occurred to him that the girls had done something. He didn’t know what, but it was certainly something.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “What did ye do?!” Harry demanded, groaning deeply in pain, and all of the girls suddenly looked very, very sly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Oh, nothing much, really,” Uma replied, looking to Jane to start the explanation.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “I made the cake,” Jane told the guys, and Carlos furrowed his brow, unsure of how that demonstrated any badness.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “And while she was doing that, Uma and I found a whole bunch of cute, little pills that we ground up really well, mixed with chocolate and poured into her cake mix. I just can’t remember… What were they called again, Evie? You always remember these things much better than me,” Mal looked to her best friend, lacing her fingers with Evie’s affectionately. Evie looked as if she were thinking for a moment before suddenly having an expression of devious realization.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Oh! I think they were laxatives, M,” Evie informed them, and the boys’ eyes went wide as they realized precisely what the girls had done to them.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “And then Evie and I decorated the cake beautifully, disguising our little ticking time bomb under a deceivingly chic camouflage,” Audrey finished with a huge, immensely evil grin. Carlos’s eyes went wide as a pain shuddered through him, and he winced.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Well… Jane obviously did not love him that much.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “You said it was an apology cake!!!” Jay cried indignantly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Yeah, we’re sorry that you guys started this whole thing,” Uma informed him, cackling evilly, and the boys all groaned and moaned.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Alright, guys, look, we’re just going to not use the bathroom!” Jay announced, and Ben’s eyes went wide as he shook his head swiftly in negation.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Are you planning on crapping your britches or something?” Uma questioned, laughing at her own inquiry, and Jay shook his head stubbornly, crossing his arms over his stomach.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  However, after only a moment, Ben couldn’t take it anymore, unable to keep up the entire resistance against going to the bathroom.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Oooh, I’m sorry! I’ve just got to go!” Ben informed them, taking his leave rather speedily to the restroom, walking somewhat stiffly as he hurried off.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Number one down,” Mal pointed out simply with a smile, turning back to the other guys. At the mere implication of possibly using the bathroom, it made Carlos’s need worse, so after a few moments of putting it off for as long as he could, he shot up.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “You girls are incorrigible, and I’m <em>so</em> not accepting your apology!” Carlos told them before making a mad dash to the restroom that he knew was in the nearby hallway.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “There goes number two,” Jane told them with a slight giggle, and Audrey smirked, meeting Jay’s eyes wickedly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Jay narrowed his eyes angrily in a challenge, trying to get ahold of his feelings so he could stand up to the girls.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  The next one to go was Gil, rushing around and looking about desperately.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Where do I go, where do I go?!!!” Gil desperately questioned, and Evie smiled, full of sugary sweetness.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “There’s a bathroom eight doors down the hall on the left,” Evie informed him, and Gil took off at the speed of light, panicking as he rushed into the other room.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “And number three,” Evie added on, beaming at Mal and Mal smiled at Evie smugly as they gazed at their last two subjects.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “And then there were two,” Uma shortly told them with a grin.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  Harry grimaced, gazing at Uma apologetically.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “I’m sorry fer prankin’ ye girls,” Harry expressed, and Uma just shook her head slowly with a laugh.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Well, I accept your apology, because I know you’re gonna be a lot more sorry by the time you’re through with your bathroom trips for the day,” Uma expressed her opinion on the subject, and Harry stood up, attempting desperately to keep himself together.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “You suck up,” Jay scolded, and Harry’s eyes flashed dangerously at the former thief. However, his effect was significantly dulled by the flighty, desperate look in his eyes.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Ye might wanna be suckin’ up, too, Jay-Jay. No tellin’ what they might do next!” Harry announced to him before finally deciding he could not hold it anymore as he made a break for the bathroom that he knew was in a servant’s room nearby.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Number four’s gone.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “Now… Our last contestant,” Audrey spoke up, leaning forward a bit as she mimicked Jay’s position, her eyes boring holes into his own.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  He narrowed his eyes, a scowl on his face as he glared at her. Audrey simply kept an easygoing smile on her face, and Jay swallowed hard, feeling the need to go to the bathroom starting to override all else.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  After a several minutes of just staring at each other, Jay jumped up from his seat, taking off for the door, holding onto his behind as tightly as he could as he ran.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  “You girls are terrible!!!” Jay cried as he ran out the door, slamming it behind him.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  The girls were quiet for a long moment before they all shared a glance. As soon as they did, they burst into laughter, unable to hold it in any longer.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>  The boys might have started this prank war, but the girls had undoubtedly won it.</p>
</div>
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